A Melaka travel update, business news and tourism blog updating all latest news of Melaka business, scenes & life for the record and information of all those who are members of the association and tourists, too!

WORLD HERITAGE DESTINATION

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Absolute Changes in Store.

Another week has passed us by and here we are well into the third week of January 2011.

Thinking back on a few thoughts that popped into my mind recently, I've come to the realization

that we are treading on fragile grounds here in the dawn of this new year in Malaysia and Asia in

general as many readers' familiar with my writings will have realized by now.

Financially, socio-politically and personally these momentous times of change world wide seem almostincongruously inane here in Melaka; as the common man is still pleasantly unawares of the turmoil happening world wide and it's varied implications for our happy future.

For when you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. (And this is one time that interested people with no connection other than the internet and a thirst for knowledge get to fathom the different and various claims and chess moves conducted by sly behind theveil of power men who are moving the various chess pieces of power sharing and government forming moves through implementation of social-political agitation to achieve their individual proxy wars desires into motion).

Personally speaking, this New World Order movement is about the stakes for control and domination ofNations and is being played out on the international level by PROXY as many old moneyed factions get ready and get set to seal the demise of the current financial,governmental and structural paradigms to bring about the changes they wish upon the unsuspecting masses.

But of course no blog is ever going to change all that, much less this one ! Life will continue and men will adapt....the powerful will dominate and the unknowing will be dominated.

It is interesting to note though the various chess moves that is being conducted by these power players almost in front of our eyes in various places and stratas of societies through the many distinct fields ofspecialties ranging from OIL/ GAS players;to the Bond & Futures markets (In both commodities and Equity ) and onwards to the Baltic Dry Index movements (Shipping) and it's diminishing activities which resorts governments to enforce policy implementation that sought to limit private equity and personal freedom in the name of mutual security and national boundaries.

As i stand witness to this tremendous political,financial & societal changes that happen before us and combined with the Natural Calamities that Mother Nature is throwing at mankind at these stage, the scenario is one of outright disbelief at how blatant some of these changes are but than it has always been said that Truth is stranger Than Fiction and by the way things are panning out this past few weeks,it looks like in 2011 we are set for one hell of a ride !

The Board's Welcome Message:

We in the Malacca Tourism Association warmly welcome you to visit Melaka, the historical city of Malaysia.

This is where it all began.

Discover about a time a little hamlet named Melaka was founded by a local lord named Parameswara in the 15th century and take a walk through history dating back to the famed Melaka Sultanate.

Relive the colonial period of the Portuguese, Dutch and British that spanned a good 4 centuries and the post-colonial days after Malaysia’s independence in 1957.We are sure you will be pleasantly surprised at the wealth of history and tourism products our members and other service providers have to offer to inbound tourists.Melaka has improved in their products in and about the state, namely, the convenience in transportation hub i.e our upgraded central bus terminal (Melaka Sentral), the Unesco Heritage Zones, the revitalized Malacca River; the Night Zoo, In-House Guides in the Museum& many other places of historical and cultural interest, good local dining and comfy accommodation.Further Growth In Melaka:Tourism is the major industry contributing to Melaka due to its historical heritage; it is classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. 12.35 Million Tourists arrived to Melaka in 2011 and we are targeting 13 Million in 2012 and expecting more in 2013.

A coastal highway linking Port Dickson to here and upgrading the busy Ayer Keroh dual carriageway are among four infrastructure projects proposed by the state government in Budget 2012.After the upgrade of Melaka International Airport, it has further put Melaka prominently on the global map and we see a steady growth of foreigners visiting Melaka for leisure, business and medical treatments.New Township Plans are presently under way to turn Melaka into a major destination for theMalaysia My Second Home programme.The project combining heritage, culture and nature is expected to be carried out in either Ayer Keroh or the Bemban area. This program will definitely attract more foreigners especially from Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and Europe to make Melaka as their second home under the Malaysia My Second Home initiative.A new Premium Outlet which offers high-end branded labels at discounted rates will be opened in Melaka soon, this will attract more tourists to Melaka and boost tourist spending in Melaka.

Melaka has three medical specialist centers and with the up-coming RM 250M Resort-Style Melaka Medical Centre, more local and foreigners will come to Melaka for the first class medical facility. In additional, Melaka will also focus on the Education Tourism to attract international students to Melaka.Multimedia University, Technical University of Malaysia Malacca, Melaka Manipal Medical College and many other renowned colleges have established themselves in Melaka.In addition, Masers Energy will invest US 20 Billion to setup low carbon project in Melaka as a pilot project and Infineon unveils RM 480 Million toexpand its facility in Melaka.All these upcoming developments will make Melaka abetter place to stay for fun, leisure, business, health care and tertiary education. These are just a handful of the latest and on-going attractions in Historical Melaka. We do hope you will contact us about any query you have either before your visit or if you just want to give us feedback about anything of interest.

Association Objectives

Vision:MTA provides their members and associates with the platform to contribute and benefit from activities designed in liaison with the related travel and tourism industries in the state and the region.

Mission:MTA shall ensure that their members provide the best services by working ethically and professionally towards the betterment of the travel and tourism industry in line with the governments' vision of providing effective and prompt services.

Objectives:-To help increase the number of tourist arrivals to Melaka from the current 1.5 nights stay to 3 nights stay in line with the state vision.

-Encourage investments in new tourism products for the betterment of the tourist industry in Melaka.

-To arrange strategic alliances and affiliation with registered institutions, associations, and societies in Malaysia and outside Malaysia with similar goals and objectives as the Malacca Tourism Association.

-To promote members products locally and regionally through strong representation alongside state tourism bodies and activities.

-To protect and preserve the mutual interest of members and to do all such lawful things conducive to the attainment of the associations desired objectives.

-To print and publish circulations, handbooks, guide books and publications necessary for the promotion of members products and new tourism activities.

Followers

Selected excerpts from the musings of Dr. AZLY RAHMAN:

I still remember the word "selamba", close to the sound of "Selambau". I know what selamba means -- "poker-faced" and no shame in playing dirty games. Selamba saja muka dia ... That's from a Johor dialect I grew up with.

Now, "lahabau" is a bad/unacceptable/inappropriate/cuss word used by my friends from Melaka. It mean "jackass", or worse, maybe.It is actually an affectionate greeting.Truly the Melakkans are good at 'gangsta-use" of language.

They would curse good friends secupak segantang ( a "truckload" of nasty words) when the meet friends who they have not met for months, years, maybe -- wondering where this "lahabau" have been all these years.

That explains my fear of meeting my friends from Melaka. Fear of being called "lahabau" or "hamlau" or "cilaka kau" in the process of being greeted!

Yes-- they are the fierce Vikings of Malaya, those modern Melakkans!

RUKUN NEGARA MALAYSIA

The Rukun Negara Malaysia or Malaysian Principles of Nationhood consist of 5 principles. It was officially introduced on 31 August 1970 in the hope that it would strengthen national unity in Malaysia's multicultural society. The declaration of the 5 principles has been formulated as follows:

We, her peoples, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends guided by these principles: